Phoenix: Burning Flame
by NamiNavigator
Summary: Phoenix Part 1: Naruto gets picked up by a merchant ship, but after the whole crew is killed, what will Naruto do in this world of pirates? And why do I get the feeling that he'll meet another knuckledheaded idiot soon? Pairings undecided. NOT YAOI


**Nami: YO! **

**Patrick: *yawn*Mornin'. **

**Nami: Hey, wake up. It's not morning, it's nearly six o'clock. In the evening.  
**

**Patrick: It's morning somewhere.  
**

**Nami: Whatever. Anyway, hey guys! I am back with yet another new story. This is the first in a trilogy called Phoenix. I hope you enjoy it and give me lots of lovely reviews. Kay?  
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**Patrick: And before the police come and break down our door, Nami does not own One Piece or Naruto. Because if she did they would become extremely warped.  
**

**Nami: I HEARD THAT! *starts singing* You're as cold as ice, you're willing to sacrifice your love...  
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**Patrick: T_T' Uh, see you guys at the bottom.  
**

* * *

Naruto stretched out his arms, yawning as he did so.

"Man, I'm bored. I've been stuck here for, what? Like, a couple of centuries now? And nothing good has happened in the last 50 years. I need to get off this continent!"

The last sentence was yelled out to the world in general. Naruto looked out onto the open sea. "Hmm. What's that ship doing here? Maybe it's a merchant ship. Wait! I can get a lift on that thing!"

Naruto ran further to the cost, stopping at the edge of the beach. He waited as the ship came closer to the shore, looking to see who was on it. A rope ladder descended from the side of the beached vessel and a bearded man climbed down. He was quite young, probably in his late twenties, with chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing simple brown trousers and a buttoned sleeveless top with a scarf tied around his neck. As he reached the bottom of the ladder and jumped off, Naruto ran closer to the man.

As he saw Naruto running towards him, them man hastily drew a pistol from his belt and aimed it at Naruto.

"Stay back! I'll shoot!" Naruto stopped running and held his hands up in front of him.

"Hey, it's okay. I just wanted to know if you could give me a lift in your ship." The man kept the gun pointed at Naruto, but seemed to relax slightly.

"What are you doin' here? We thought that nobody lived here." Naruto shrugged.

"It's true. I'm the only one here. Why is a long story that I'm not going to explain. So, can you give me a lift or not?"

The man finally lowered the gun, slipping it back into his belt. He beckoned Naruto over to him, and the boy immediately obeyed. The man looked him up and down.

The boy looked to be about eighteen years old. He had bright yellow hair, reaching just past his ears in a spiky mess. His bright blue eyes were lit up with enthusiasm. He was wearing a black t-shirt and black combats, with a long-sleeved haori over it. The jacket was white with red and orange flames decorating the hem and edges of the sleeves.

The man looked him up and down a few more times, before sticking out his hand for Naruto to shake. Naruto grasped the proffered hand readily.

"The name's Matsuki Kaen. Who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service." Kaen smiled.

"Well then Naruto, as long as you're willin' to help out on the ship, you're welcome to come with us. Is there anythin' you're good at?"

Naruto scratched his head and shrugged. "I guess I'm good at a lot of stuff. I can cook, clean, fix stuff, read maps... I can't steer a ship though. I've never been on a ship this size before. What do you think I should do Kaen-san?"

Kaen shook his head. "You could crew a ship by yourself lad! Anyway, you said you could cook, right?" Naruto nodded. "Then you can be chef. We've had t' make do with simple meals on the ship. None of us are any good at cookin'." Naruto grinned eagerly.

"Awesome! So, was there a reason you stopped, or can we leave soon?"

Kaen scratched his chin. "Well, we were hopin' to see if there was anyone here, even though the rumours said there weren't. One of our lads is sick. We need a doctor. Say, do you know anyone who can help?"

Naruto looked unsure. "I might be able to. My Granny was a medic, and I learnt some of the stuff she knew. I can try and see if I can help."

Kaen grasped his hand firmly. "If you could, that would be grand lad. Come onto the ship and you can have a look at him." Naruto nodded, and followed Kaen over to the ship and up the ladder.

The man led Naruto into a small cabin in the centre of the ship. There was a man laying there, sweating profusely and panting slightly.

Naruto ran straight to the man's side. He held his hands out, which began to glow green. Kaen was about to stop the boy, but saw the look of intense concentration on his face and decided against it.

Naruto continued for a little longer, until a small brown liquid floated out of the man's mouth and Naruto caught it in his hand. He ran outside and threw it off of the ship, as far into the ocean as he could. Then he rinsed his hand in water and took a leaf out of his pocket and rubbed it over his palms.

Kaen, who had been waiting patiently, now decided to speak. "So? What was that?" Naruto looked at him.

"He must have eaten something poisonous at some point. It would have killed him if it had been left for much longer. I threw it off the ship because it doesn't have to be eaten. It can be inhaled or soak through the skin. The leaf that I rubbed my hand with has disinfecting properties that mean it won't spread."

Kaen looked shocked, but then turned and re-entered the cabin that housed the ill man. He looked a lot better. His breathing was normal and he'd stopped sweating and his colour was returning to normal.

His eyes fluttered open and he groaned. Kaen hovered by his side, hesitant on what to do. The man sat up, then Naruto appeared with a glass of green liquid in his hand.

"Here." he said to the man. "Drink this." The crew member was sceptical, but drank it all the same.

He looked brighter in a moment. He looked at the drink curiously.

Kaen pulled Naruto to the side and whispered to him, "What is that drink? What does it do?" Naruto smiled.

"It's my own recipe. It doesn't heal anything really, it just restores his energy levels so he can heal himself."

Kaen looked impressed. "And you learnt all this from your Granny?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed, looking sheepish. Kaen shook his head and threw an arm round the blonde boy's shoulders. "Well, no matter. You're a friend now Naruto. For sure!"

* * *

A year had passed since Naruto had taken up residence as the ships cook, and they had been to many places in that time. He had learnt how to steer a ship, read nautical maps, read the weather and many other things.

At present the crew were on their way to a port town called Bromeon. They were hoping to stock up on supplies there, as they were fast running out.

Naruto sat, perched on the edge of the crows nest, as was his usual spot when he wasn't working. He peered into the distance, and could see a ship. It was probably a Marine ship. They were quite common in these areas.

Naruto looked below and he felt the mast rock slightly. The normal lookout was climbing up the rigging to talk to him.

"Hiya Naruto! Cap'n says he wants to talk to ya in his cabin. I'll cover for ya up 'ere."

Naruto grinned and thanked the man. "Cheers Kuromaru!"

The black-haired merchant waved his hand at the blonde. "Get a move on. Go on, move yaself boy!"

Naruto waved again before scampering down the rigging like a monkey. He jumped the last few levels and landed on the balls of his feet at the base of the mast. He ran across the deck and hurtled down some stairs into the captain's cabin.

The men in the cabin looked up as Naruto came in. Kaen waved at him. "Naruto, good. Come look at this."

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's the new list of bounties. Remember the faces, you'll want to avoid them." Naruto approached the table and was about to look when there was a loud explosion and the cabin rocked violently.

The crew rushed onto deck, trying to see what it was. "What's goin' on?" yelled Kaen.

Kuromaru shouted out something from the crows nest, but the captain couldn't hear him.

However, Naruto could. The blonde paled, and Kaen shook his shoulder. "What did he say?"

"We're being shot at. By the Marines."

Kaen's eyes grew wide. "What? But we're a merchant ship. We haven't done anythin'."

Naruto pointed. "Look. There's the ship."

In all their haste, none of the crew had noticed the Marine ship sailing closer and closer. They could see the faces of the Marines, grinning and laughing.

Naruto called out to the Marines. "What are you doing? We're merchants, not pirates!" The Marines just laughed.

One man, obviously the captain called out to his crew. "Lets play a game! One point for each one you kill!" Naruto was shocked. The protectors of justice, killing the innocent?

He clutched his head and crumpled onto the deck as he was flooded with memories. His eyes watched as people died all around him.

Then, the memories stopped. Naruto rushed around the ship, trying to help as many as he could. But he was too late.

He saw one body lying on the ground and froze. He felt bile coming up his throat as he fell to his knees beside the man he had come to treat as his father.

"Kaen!" he cried hoarsely. "No!" The man smiled a little at Naruto, and as Naruto tried to heal him, the captain used the last of his strength to push his hands away.

"Save... your strength. I'm... gone. Naruto? You... You were..." He stopped for a moment as he coughed up a little blood. "You... were the son I never had. I'm sorry... Goodbye." With that, Kaen heaved one last shuddering breath, and died in Naruto's arms.

The tears streamed freely down Naruto's face as he sobbed over the man's lifeless body. Then, he looked up, anger and hate in his eyes. He took off his jacket. Kaen had given it to him for his last birthday. He laid it over the dead man and jumped away. He ran and vaulted over the edge of the ship, only to land on the water.

He ran. He ran so fast that he created a slight spray behind him. When he caught up with the Marine ship, he wasted no time. He threw himself onto the deck and pulled his hands up to his mouth. When he extended them, a stream of white hot fire followed. The fire spread all over the ship and Marines screamed as they were burned alive.

The captain rushed out of his cabin, only to see his entire ship up in flames. He whirled around, trying to find the source when he noticed Naruto. The boy was approaching him with hate in his eyes. His fist was glowing white and a blade of fire was extended from his wrist. The Marine tried to back away, but only found a wall behind him.

The last thing he saw was Naruto's blue eyes flickering red, and he felt a hot pain in his chest, before he died.

Naruto extracted his fist from the dead man's chest. He threw the body behind him and spewed more flames from his mouth. When he was sure that every person on the ship was dead, he leapt off and began to walk towards where he knew the nearest port would be.

* * *

Naruto sat at the port with his feet dangling off the edge. His toes were just scraping the top of the water. He got up and began to walk across the sea again. He needed to find something to distract him, or he'd go mad.

He was about to start running again when he saw the familiar mark of the Marines. This time, there were five ships. Four were the size of the ones he had encountered before, the fifth was around twice the size.

Naruto's face darkened. Perhaps now he would get a revenge that satisfied him. He jumped onto the fist ship and began spewing hot fire around again. He made sure each ship was burning ferociously before he moved onto the next.

When he reached the largest ship, she sucked in a huge breath to set the ship on fire once again, then noticed that it was getting cold.

That was impossible. All the heat from his fires should make it feel as if it was a hot summers day.

The he noticed the ice beginning to creep across the deck of the largest ship. This was getting ridiculous.

Naruto let out his breath, but didn't release his flame. He wanted to know what was happening.

A man appeared in front of him. He was quite tall, had curly hair and an eye-mask settled on his forehead.

"Who are you?" he asked Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki." he hissed. "Otherwise known as your death."

Naruto was distracted for a moment by a man in the corner scribbling something down on a piece of paper and holding up a camera to take a photo. Naruto pointed his index finger at him like a gun and shot a small fireball at the man. He jumped up immediately, trying to put out the flame that was now burning his clothes.

The Marine from before coughed, attracting Naruto's attention once again. "So, Naruto Uzumaki. Do you have a reason that you attacked my fleet? On your own as well."

Naruto snorted. "You're Marines. Marines are corrupted filth that attack the innocent and ignore justice. There's my reason. Oh, and since I was so kind to give you my name, I'd like yours."

The man frowned. "Very well. I am Admiral Aokiji."

Naruto laughed. "Oops, I pissed off an admiral. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?"

Aokiji raised his hand. "Personally, I really don't care that much for your motives, or your name. What use do I have of knowing things about a dead man?"

Naruto stopped laughing and his face darkened. "Oh, you think so? Well, let me change your mind about that."

Naruto raised his hands to his mouth again, and shout a stream of red fire at Aokiji. The admiral countered by creating a wall of ice between him and Naruto. The flame struck the wall, but couldn't break through.

Naruto looked impressed. "Nice. If Haku's ice was that good when he fought me before, I would be dead." Then he got a contemplative look on his face. "Then again, if I fought Haku now, he would die pretty soon. Meh, whatever."

Aokiji was getting annoyed. "I'm flattered that you think me better than this Haku person, but I'd rather we got on with it. See, as an admiral, I'm a busy man, and I don't really have the time to be dealing with a rouge like you."

Naruto laughed. "Oh, yeah. Right then. Time to bring out the heavy stuff."

He stuck out his arm and thrust a little bit of chakra into one of the many seals written there. A pair of yari tanto appeared and he caught one in each hand. He held them in front of him and smiled.

"These are my favourite knives. They're called Moesashi and Hibana. I love these guys, mainly because they have some kickass powers I can use. Want to see?"

Aokiji frowned. "I don't care. Hurry up and attack or I will."

Naruto grinned. "Certainly."

He shot forwards, using pushes from the deck of the ship to propel himself towards the admiral. He swung his fist round, using the momentum to pull himself with it. Aokiji easily dodged, but then swore loudly at the burn now evident on his torso.

Naruto, having spun to face away from Aokiji, landed softly, then pushed off again into a back somersault, aiming both of his tanto this time, and thrust them towards Aokiji's chest. Once again, the man dodged, and once again he gained a burn. This one was much worse than the last one.

"What trickery is this?" he hissed.

Naruto laughed. "There's no trickery. I'm just using blades you can't see. Simple."

Aokiji grimaced and directed his ice to cover the areas that were burnt. He thrust his hand out and a pillar of ice rushed towards Naruto's feet. It caught him and held him in place as it began to creep up the boy's legs.

The admiral smiled. "What now, boy?" Naruto stuck out his tongue and grinned.

"Easy. I'm going to do this!" Naruto made a cross-shaped hand seal and whispered something under his breath before his hands were frozen in place. In front of the now mostly frozen Naruto was... er... another... Naruto?

The other Naruto grinned and his hands rushed up to his mouth and blew a huge fireball at the original ninja. Aokiji gaped as the ice melted off the boy, but then began to laugh as he realised what he had done.

"Fool! You may have melted my ice, but you will now have huge burns on anywhere that was free from ice."

The steam that had been created around Naruto cleared, and Aokiji stared at the image of the boy. Free from any injuries whatsoever.

"What? How did you-" he broke off in the middle of the sentence as he noticed Naruto bring his hands to his mouth again.

"Surprise!" he grinned. Naruto blew a huge fireball at the admiral, who was so shocked that he was unable to move, and was engulfed in flame.

Aokiji landed on his own deck, covered in burns. Naruto danced towards him and crouched down to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry, I turned the heat down, so you won't die. Only cause I like you. Anyway, if I see a Marine again, I'll kill them. That includes you Kūru-san. Bye!"

Aokiji gasped for breath. He had come close to death and he knew it. As his subordinates crowded round him and called for a doctor, he could only stare in the direction that the young boy had gone. _'Naruto Uzumaki. I wonder what you will become...'_

* * *

**Nami: What do you think? Well, because I'm not psychic, you'll have to tell me through reviews. **

**Patrick: Please review. It stops her being insane for a bit.  
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**Nami: COME BACK YOU STUPID DINOSAUR!  
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**Patrick: Uh, it makes her less insane for a bit. Anyway, please review.  
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**Nami: ^_^ Have a nice day.  
**


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